A protected bike lane and parklet like this will temporarily transform the experience of traveling on Telegraph. Image courtesy City of Oakland, for illustrative purposes only.
A block of Telegraph Avenue in Oakland will get a protected bike lane and parklet for one day -- Bike to Work Day, this Thursday. Bike East Bay and Walk Oakland Bike Oakland will set up the demo on the southbound side of Telegraph between 27th and Sycamore Streets, providing a taste of the transformation possible with the city's plans to redesign the street.
The parklet will be one of many Bike to Work Day stations around the Bay Area where bike commuters can pick up goodie bags and fuel up on snacks and coffee. Visitors can also fill out a short survey about their experience riding the protected bike lane.
Whether protected bike lanes are made permanent in the Telegraph redesign will depend in large part on community feedback. You can weigh in on the project by checking out the proposed design options on the city's website and downloading a comment card [PDF] to email to Jamie Parks of the Oakland Public Works Department by May 19.
Streetsblog California editor Melanie Curry has been thinking about transportation, and how to improve conditions for bicyclists, since her early days commuting by bike to UCLA long ago. She was Managing Editor at the East Bay Express, and edited Access Magazine for the University of California Transportation Center. She also earned her Masters in City Planning from UC Berkeley.